


Slow

by tatooedlaura



Series: Life [26]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 16:03:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8923504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatooedlaura/pseuds/tatooedlaura
Summary: Wondering if maybe she disappeared to find breakfast, he happened to look across the deserted beach at a figure with fiery red hair walking slowly through the calm surf, kicking up splashes every so often, crouching to examine driftwood or shells or some small sea treasure before standing to move on a minute later.





	

Eventually, but by no easy means, they finally spotted the sign declaring that San Diego was only 120 miles ahead of them. Mulder, who’d been doing the lions’ share of the driving that day, sighed in relief, “I honestly thought that maybe somebody somewhere who truly hated me kept moving the city further down the road. I swear, we’ve been four hours away for the last eight hours.”

Scully quietly handed him a red M&M from the big bag they’d bought at the last gas station, “thank you for driving so much.”

Popping the candy in his mouth, sucking on it instead of chewing immediately, “it’s all right. I’m gonna make you drive the whole way home so we’ll just call it even.”

“Joy.”

Mulder smiled at her, talking around the rapidly melting chocolate in his mouth, “did you call your mom about sending the passports? I know you said you would yesterday but I don’t remember the call.”

“I did it while we were at the rest area. She’s going to send them to Tara’s parents house so they should be there in a few days at the latest.”

“Good. Can’t wait for tequila on the beach.”

“Did you bring the Speedo?”

Mulder nearly ran off the road, “um, what?”

How in the world did he not know that she knew about the Speedo? The whole damn Hoover building knew about the Speedo. Her mother, oddly, knew about the Speedo. “Your little red bathing suit that sends every female under the age of 80 into palpitations the moment you make your way to the pool.”

He was now as red as his Speedo, “I only wear it to do laps and nobody’s seen me in it … well, except for rat bastard and if he’s spreading rumors about my bathing suit, there’s a lot more wrong with him that we ever suspected.”

Scully grinned at him, this time offering blue and green candies, “it’s sort of an urban legend around the building. Apparently, there was a sighting in ’95 through a window and you’ve been the rage since then.”

Resting his elbow on the door, he leaned his head into his palm, “is that why people ask me if I’m using the pool whenever I use the elevator at the end of the hall?”

“Probably.”

“Jesus, I’ll never be able to swim there again.” As he sailed through traffic at 70 miles an hour, something occurred to him, “you’ve never seen me in it, right?”

“No. No I haven’t.” This time, he got two yellows, one with a double peanut, “but we are going to the ocean so I have my hopes set high and my fingers crossed.”

He drove on is silence, eating M&M’s one by one as she grinned through the windshield, both forgetting for a moment the reason they were going to San Diego in the first place.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Mulder sprung for a beach-front hotel, complete with king-size bed, enough towels to satisfy even the most cotton-obsessed individual on the planet and a balcony that comfortably held two large chaise lounges and a table with inset cup holders for beverages from the complimentary liquor cabinet. Dumping bags on the small table, he watched Scully throw open the drapes and slide the glass door open, admitting an ocean breeze warm and caressing across his face.

“Scully?”

Her voice sounded fainter, given she was already out on the balcony, “yeah?”

“Can we move here? I see absolutely no reason to ever go back to DC, except maybe so we can convince your mother, the ladies and the Gunmen to move out here with us.”

Strolling back in, she saw him now sprawled across the bed, “my mom and the ladies, maybe but the Gunmen could never live here. There’s too much light and not enough skulking, rain-soaked, eerily-lit angsty places for them to meet informants. Conspiracies don’t live in the sun, Mulder, they hide in the shadows. Haven’t they taught you anything in the last six years?”

“Apparently not. Glad someone’s been paying attention.”

Silently, they enjoyed the warmth until he sat up, wondering if he should break the happy mood filling the room but Scully, because she knew him better than he did, gave him a head-tilting study for a moment, then, “I’ll call in a minute. I didn’t want to try to schedule something when I wasn’t sure about when we’d arrive.”

Feeling that the happy mood was still somewhat intact, even after the whoosh of depressing thoughts that suddenly ran rampant through the room, “you’re okay so far. You haven’t had a headache or a nosebleed in three days.”

She refused to be cautiously optimistic. She’d been there enough times to know the crash would be devastating if she heard bad news, “nothing was constant at first last time, either.” Having enough of that conversation for the moment, she came over to the bed, taking his hand and pulling him up, “come on. I want to go eat fish tacos on the beach.”

“Don’t know that I’ve had a fish taco. Are they that good that you need one right now?”

“Most definitely. I also need to buy some sandals and a hat and a couple skirts.”

He didn’t even mind the prospect of shopping with her.

How in the world did he survive being so pathetically in love?

&&&&&&&&&&&

The shopping excursion wasn’t the worst thing in the world, especially when Scully emerged from the dressing room more than once asking him his opinion on skirts as well as several button-down, loose, flowing cottony shirts. He nearly told her she could dress in a paper bag and he’d be happy to look at her all day long but he bit his tongue and kept his comments to the friendly, I can’t tell you ‘I want to come in there and help you change’ variety.

Scully, however, wasn’t an idiot. She knew what looked good on her, what would make Mulder’s eyes widen and pupils dilate and how to settle things on her frame just right to show him the hint of a bra strap or a little more thigh than normal or to turn so her skirt would flare over the top of her ass with a little bounce.

She realized she would more than likely burn in hell or at least get a very long talk from some kind of ardent nun if and when she made it to heaven but right now, she felt good and she wasn’t going to stop.

Deciding that with her flowy skirt and her comfortable shoes and her neon pink sunglasses, with Mulder looking at her as if she were the first, last and only woman on Earth, it was time and she pulled out her phone, knowing this might be the only opportunity she could make her phone call without falling to pieces.

&&&&&&&&&&

Mulder stood beside her in the shade of a palm tree along the edge of the cement walk bordering the beach, listening but not listening to her talk to her friend, describe her symptoms, book an appointment for the next day. Only when he felt the slide of her phone into his side cargo pocket did he return fully to firm ground, “10am?”

“10am.”

“Fish tacos?”

Linking her arm through his, “fish tacos.”

They strolled, they ate, they shed shoes and carried them while they wandered the edge of the waves. Anyone watching would have sighed and gotten jealous and commented to their companions about the stereotypically beautiful couple who didn’t have a care in the world. Little did they know that the mood, while still good between them, was descending rapidly into a dually depressing state. They both did their best, commenting on how good their walking dinner was, how warm the water seemed to be and making plans for swimming tomorrow after the appointment but the fear wouldn’t be kept at bay, seeping into the dips in conversation, nipping greedily at fleeting happiness until, even before the sun went down, Scully threw in the towel, taking Mulder’s hand in hers once again, “can we head back?”

“Of course.” Without need for explanation, he steered them towards the boardwalk, weaving amongst the couples and families, stopping her only to buy fudge and kettlecorn, tucking his wares under his arm so he wouldn’t have to let her go. They’d walked further than they thought and it took awhile before they were back at the hotel, padding quietly down the carpeted halls, the silence oppressive to their ears after the din of the outside world. Scully went immediately to the balcony, throwing the doors open wide and turning off the air conditioning, explaining to Mulder in sparse words that she needed the waves.

He understood.

They didn’t turn the lights on in the room as it darkened outside, enjoying the dim twilight from the balcony chaises. It wasn’t until it was completely dark that Scully called out to him, “Mulder? Are you still there?”

“Of course. Where else would I be?” When she didn’t answer, he rolled off his chair, walked on his knees the three feet to her, then climbed up beside her, scooting her over some so he fit comfortably, “where else would I be?”

Her eyes were closed, head straight up, facing the stars, “I don’t know. You were so far away and I couldn’t feel you anymore.”

“I was way over there. How did you feel me to begin with?”

“I feel you all the time, Mulder.”

Mouth at her temple, nose in her hair, “well, I’m right here now. No escaping me.”

“I don’t think I’d ever want to escape from you.”

“Even if you did, I’d come find you.”

The warm tear that trailed over his lips made him shut his eyes, wondering if there was anything else he could say to make it better. Before he could think of something, he heard her ask in a glass voice, delicate and shattering, “anywhere?”

“Anywhere.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

His resolve nearly broken, he moved his arm over her stomach, boldly slipping hand under shirt and over skin, fitting his fingers along the dips of her ribcage, cuddling her close, “I’m just going to focus on the holding, if you don’t mind.”

Turning her head sideways, her forehead skimmed his mouth as she inhaled the salty scent that clung to his neck, “I will never mind.”

&&&&&&&&&

She was gone when he woke up. Propping up on his elbows immediately, he looked around, hoping maybe she just shifted to the other chair. Instead he found an empty balcony as well as an empty hotel room, getting up to investigate once he could open his eyes fully. The sun was barely up, the sky still dark blue above the ocean while it gradiated to pinks and oranges as it moved over the building to the east. Wondering if maybe she disappeared to find breakfast, he happened to look across the deserted beach at a figure with fiery red hair walking slowly through the calm surf, kicking up splashes every so often, crouching to examine driftwood or shells or some small sea treasure before standing to move on a minute later.

Returning to the chaise, he sat against the back, legs stretched before him, arms crossed comfortable on his chest and he watched.

He also realized there had to be something to the whole feeling him thing she’d mentioned the night before, given suddenly, she stopped, turned her head in his direction, then waved before starting back in his direction. He watched her progress intently until she was directly in front, one floor down on the ground, looking up at him.

Mulder had stood a minute early and was leaning on the railing, greeting her with a grin, “morning.”

Turning a truly radiant smile on, “morning. Want to come down and get some breakfast?”

“I’ll meet you in three minutes. Wait right there.”

“Right here?”

“Right there.”

After finding her downstairs, in her exact spot, they collected fresh, homemade donuts from across the street and mugs of coffee at the café just opening up next door. Halfway through his second cruller, Scully reached across, combing her fingers through Mulder’s hair, “you forgot to try to make that lay down.”

“I did. This is what you get, so appreciate it and move on, woman.”

Leaving her hand on top of his head, she scratched lightly, pulling him towards her, “I appreciate, believe me.”

“Good.”

Regardless of how wonderful their easy breakfast was, they soon had to return to their room for showers, dressing, the hardness of the day bearing down as the clock inched towards departure time for the hospital. He could see her turning in on herself, getting quiet, getting pale, getting scared, the fear she had hidden from him for years now open to him as he’d never seen it before. She showed him everything with a simple twist of her knuckles, a single spring of her knee, a light biting of her bottom lip as he followed her directions to the appointment.


End file.
